The Little Worm That Crept Into His Heart
by fauxvision
Summary: Sasuke was convinced he didn't want children. They were too noisy, too messy, and just too much to deal with. When his college professor asks him to babysit his one year old son, Naruto, for a morning, Sasuke realizes there are quite a few joys to having a little tike of your own. Sasuke x toddler!Naruto fic.


**Rated:** K  
**Main characters: **Sasuke Uchiha, toddler!Naruto Uzumaki  
**Minor character: **Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki (mention)

**Summary: **Sasuke was convinced he didn't want children. They were too noisy, too messy, and just too much to deal with. When his college professor asks him to babysit his one year old son, Naruto, for a morning, Sasuke realizes there are quite a few joys to having a little tike of your own.

**The Little Worm That Crept Into His Heart**

Children- the little humans that typically run around full of glee with missing teeth, scraped knees, and their shoes on the wrong feet.

Kids- the small beings that show no fear, have no worries, and are the most carefree people of all.

Young ones- the creatures that most women cry over when they are unable to bear them, proud to bring their precious life into this world...who fathers declare to protect and provide for until they come of age to care for themselves, and when their actions are observed- whether good or bad- you can't help but smile seeing them in all their adorableness. It was pretty safe to say that everyone wanted children...

Except Sasuke.

To him, those little tikes were too noisy, too messy, and just too much to deal with. Changing diapers, spoon feeding, bathing, clothing, and entertaining them was not something on his bucket list to do. Having to clean up their messes or deal with the troublesome woes that came with parenting? The crying, the piercing screams from their excitement, and the tantrums...God forbid him dealing with what he called a "snot nose brat" throwing a plate of food because they didn't want it, or kicking and screaming in the middle of the grocery store because they couldn't get a new toy or a candy bar.

Nope, not him- Sasuke Uchiha was convinced he would never have children. He had been the youngest in his family, so thankfully? He had no younger siblings to look after after school, while others were away at work, or when mom and dad would like to get away for some "alone time". He remembered when his parents had asked Itachi to watch after him for that reason; the look on his brother's face had been an irritated one with his furrowed brow and slight frown. (Thinking back, that "alone time" could have resulted in a baby Uchiha, and now Sasuke had the same look gracing his features.)

If Sasuke despised children so much, how did he end up standing on the front porch of the Namikaze household with a large coffee in hand at seven o' clock in the morning for a babysitting job?

His college professor, Minato Namikaze, had asked him to.

Why would Minato ask someone as quiet, put off, and aloof as Sasuke to care for his child on this Saturday morning? He was his favorite student. Because of Sasuke's calmed nature, Minato entrusted that he would be aware enough to watch after his son, unlike the blonde haired, blue eyed student he had asked last week. She was the typical babysitter: on the phone, in the magazines, and what resulted from her negligence ended up costing Minato a good three hundred dollars for a new paint job.

Yeah...Sasuke seemed he would do just fine.

He knocked on the door a couple of times- hard enough to get the attention of his professor yet quietly so he wouldn't disturb the kid. Minato had said his son woke up around eight o' clock like clockwork, and Sasuke had surely wanted to enjoy the hour he still had remaining before then. (This was another reason Sasuke didn't want children; damn this waking up with the sun to take care of them since they just so happened to naturally wake up early.)

Another pattern of three more knocks to the red wooden door, and when he took a sip of his coffee, he heard the lock click. As the door opened itself for him to enter, he was greeted with the bright smile of his professor; his sun kissed hair and vibrant blue eyes made him look as if he were morning himself, and the chipper "hello" he gave Sasuke as he let him in made his student cringe. _How in the hell could you be so energetic so early?_ Sasuke wondered to himself, dragging in with weighted bags sitting under his eyelids and a rather glum expression.

"I'm so glad you could do this for me Sasuke!" Minato thanked his student as he closed the door and waved him to follow him into the kitchen.

"Pleasures all mine, Professor." It was a lie; it wasn't really a pleasure at all, but since Minato had been his favorite teacher as well with his quirky lessons and enthusiastic attitude towards teaching? He braved a smile- although weak- as he placed the cup of jo on the coffee table after taking a gulp.

"I know it was last minute, being that I called you around ten last night, and I do apologize for that," Sasuke gave an acceptance nod in response, "but an employee at my second job called out for this morning, and I have to play fill in for the shift for a couple hours."

"It's no problem," Sasuke placed his hands in his pockets and gave a light smirk, "I wasn't doing anything today, anyways."

Minato clasped his hands in front of his chest, continuously thanking his student for accepting the favor he had asked of him. He walked Sasuke around the home, giving him a tour of the place so he would know where everything was located and gave him a detailed schedule of his son's regimen. Sasuke glanced over the sheet of paper, taking note of the times and the activities that corresponded with them, and he managed to keep that reassuring smirk on his face despite his feelings on the inside.

He wanted to kick. He wanted to scream. He wanted to throw a tantrum just like he would probably experience with the little squirt who was scheduled to wake up in forty five minutes. God, he wasn't looking forward to this at all as he lowly sighed.

"Naruto should be up in forty five minutes," Minato said, pulling his jacket onto his body and picking his keys from the counter top. "My cell, job, and best friend's- just in case you can't reach me- numbers are on the refrigerator. I also took the liberty of making a small map of the house, which is also placed on the fridge, in case you forget where anything is located, and...I think there is one more thing..."

"Professor, everything is going to be fine," Sasuke interjected looking at his teacher who had his arms folded across his chest with a puzzled look on his face. "I'm pretty good at remembering things, otherwise I wouldn't be top in your class. You do give a lot of information in one day."

Minato chuckled weakly, bringing a hand to his neck for a scratch. "Yeah, I guess you're right, huh? Well in that case, I'm off. I hope he doesn't give you too much trouble." Sasuke nodded his head to his professor as he walked out the door into the garage. He heard the car door slam shut, the garage roar as it opened, and the sound of the engine turning as Minato turned the car on and drove off signaled this was it-

It was time to babysit, and as the garage fell close, he shuddered. He placed the schedule on the counter top, staring at it, trying to mentally burn a whole through the center of the sheet. He let out a heavy sigh, leaned onto the counter and propped his head up with his hand. He really wanted to be in his bed, in snoozeville, sifting through the timeless void of twinkling stars and swirling blue black patterns; he rarely ever had dreams, and he was thankful for it, because the few that he had had before? Not something you want to see while you're supposed to be basking in something as peaceful as sleeping.

He took his other hand to swipe at his ebony bangs and watched them swish back and forth as they brushed across his forehead. _Forty minutes until the kid wakes up,_ he thought staring at the other side of the kitchen when his bangs stopped moving. _Hopefully this day goes by quicker than most._

Sasuke stood up and walked into the living room where he plopped down onto the couch; his back met the seat cushions with his longs legs hanging over the edge, and he let out another sigh. He stared into the ceiling, following the spinning blades of the ceiling fan with dark gray irises as his mind wandered off to nowhere. It didn't take long for him to doze off with the fuzzy suede material of the camel colored couch caressing his lean frame; the current of air the fan created made for a comfortable sleeping environment, and with the curtains covering the blinds, no sunlight was able to invade the space with it's flamboyant glow.

This is what Sasuke should have been doing this early on a Saturday morning. It was much easier to do in his apartment, however; on weekends, he would put a thick, black blanket over his bedroom window to block any outside light. His friends had called him a vampire; he just didn't want to be interrupted. With his classes taking up a good twelve hours of the day Monay, Wednesday, and Friday? Work Monday thru Friday, especially Tuesday and Thursday in the college media center, and peer tutoring in between? He deserved to be closed in on weekends; you seriously couldn't tell him otherwise.

His sleep running for a good thirty minutes, he failed to hear thumps coming down the stairs at a rapid pace as someone either ran, slid, or worse, fell down the case. The pitter patter of footsteps drew near as feet tapped the floor in a hurried walk and abruptly stopped at the arm of the chair. Sasuke didn't feel the hefty breaths of the little person standing on his tippy toes, looking over the strange male laying on the couch.

A chubby finger stuck itself out as the little one held his arm up and poked him on the lips. Sasuke absentmindedly moved a hand up to swat away whatever was touching him, and when it did, he rest his arm on top of his stomach as he continued to sleep. The little person scrunched his eyebrows as he continued to peer at the sleeping male and moved his finger to poke the side of his cheek. Again, Sasuke swatted his hand away, and this made a pout come onto the little boy's face. The third time he poked Sasuke, it was rough as he jabbed his finger straight into Sasuke's eye, poking him with a force a one year old shouldn't have.

"Shit!" Sasuke quickly sat up, yelling and covering his pulsing eye startling the culprit in the process. He rubbed his eye and muttered a slur of curses under his breath; what in the hell had just assaulted him like that?! He wondered with his eyes half closed, pain radiating in one of them.

"Shih," the soft voice of the little person standing next to the arm chair made his heart drop and when he looked to his left, he saw the brightly smiling face of Naruto Uzumaki. The toddler had sunny yellow hair, big bold blue eyes, and tanned skin just like his father. He had three whisker marks dawning each side of his cheek, and from Sasuke's conclusion? They must have been Sharpie marker. They were faded marks and unevenly aligned which meant they had to be recently made.

Sasuke rose to his feet, still soothing his eyes, and he looked down to the almost three foot tall person below him. He wore a frown while Naruto held a grin, a goofy looking one, and it had absolutely no effect on Sasuke. He wanted grab the little kid by his ankles, turn him upside down, and shake him for all he was worth for poking him in the eye, but the thought of his professor and the power he held over his grade encouraged him not to go through with that plan.

As he continued to scowl at Naruto, Naruto decided to mimic him turning his smile into a frown and furrowed his brow as he folded his arms across his chest. This made Sasuke cock a brow as he dropped his hands to his sides, and in the little game Naruto was playing with him, he attempted to cock his own. Of course since he wasn't as coordinated, he moved both of them up at the same time giving him a surprised look instead with his lips poking outward.

"Yeah, you can't do it, huh?" Sasuke teased giving a smirk with his raised brow and placed his arms across his chest.

"Shih," Naruto said in his cute little voice, and Sasuke realized that he was repeating the word he had blared out when Naruto poked him.

"No, don't say that-"

"Shih!" Naruto said a little louder, and it made Sasuke jump. Dammit, his eye felt like it was swelling, his head was starting to throb, and to make matters worse, he got his professor's son trying to say curse words!

"SHIIII-" Naruto drawled out, throwing his arms back as he leaned forward with his eyes closed, yelling. Sasuke dropped to his knees in front of the kid and placed his hand over his mouth, muffling his scream as he continued on. He added a little pressure making Naruto stop as his hand clamped over his mouth. He stared into the big blue eyes that looked back at him blankly; his own were intensely stern.

"Look twerp, you can't say that word. It's bad, and if daddy hears you saying it, you're going to get in trouble...I'm going to get in trouble, do you understand me?"

Naruto blinked owlishly as Sasuke continued to look at him, and it made Sasuke's blood start to boil. He wasn't use to this, this babysitting mess, and already it was going down south. "Do you understand me?"

Naruto kept blinking, but he nodded his head, and Sasuke let out a relieving sigh. He removed his hand from Naruto's little face- his chubby cheeks held a dust of red- and looked back to the kid who peered at him like a deer in headlights. Their gazes held contact for a good moment as they both studied the other, and it was nothing but calm, although tense on Sasuke's side.

"Shih," Naruto decided to break the silence, and Sasuke placed his hands over his own face and drug them down slowly as Naruto began to smile again.

"Oh my God," Sasuke sighed after he spoke, and his lips flapped from his exhale making his mouth sound like a motor boat. And sure enough after he did that, Naruto tried to do the exact same thing blowing air out of his mouth- more like spit- directly into Sasuke's face.

Sasuke shoulders sagged; his expression went emotionless as the one year old showered him in saliva as he was determined to make that same sound. Having enough, Sasuke wiped his face and then pinched Naruto's lips together, looking back into the large sea blue eyes. "You and I...are going to have a long morning."

"Shih," the word was contained in Naruto's mouth with his cheeks puffing out, but even with the muffled sound, Sasuke still knew what he had said. He was going to have to figure out a way to get that word out of his vocabulary by one o'clock, or Minato would, for sure, have his head.

Deciding not to let go of his mouth, warily avoiding Naruto trying to copy anything else he did, Sasuke gathered him into his arms; he carried Naruto into the kitchen to look at the schedule still on the counter.

"So first on the list is breakfast," Sasuke said aloud, and at his last word, Naruto started shifting in his arms. He was doing a dance, pumping one fist into the air followed by the other as he moved his head from side to side with his eyes closed. Had Sasuke let go of his lips, the kid would be smiling, but he wouldn't dare chance him saying that word again.

He turned to the fridge with Naruto still moving in his arms, and Naruto ended up punching him under the chin with his fist; Sasuke felt like his eyes had rolled into the back of his head with the repeated, ecstatic hits to his jaw. He settled Naruto on his hip and let go of his mouth allowing him a free hand to hold Naruto's wrist. "Will you stop that?!" The toddler seized his celebrating and stared at Sasuke with that same vacant look.

"...Shih."

He pinched Naruto's lips again and narrowed those cold, gray eyes at the little boy in his arms. He had seemed to calm down as he just blinked at Sasuke, and when Sasuke opened the fridge with the hand holding Naruto on his hip (this was no easy task) and muttered "what's for breakfast?"...

Naruto started his victory dance yet again, this time punching Sasuke in the cheek.

"You know what?!" Sasuke eyed the kitchen and found the blue and orange highchair with a miniature cartoon fox on the back of the seat. He hastily walked to the seat, pulled the tray out and put Naruto in it, pushing the tray back in til it touched his tummy. "You're gonna sit here until I find whatever it is you're supposed to be eating, okay?"

A pause as they shared a gaze, and then, "Shih."

Sasuke placed his hands on top of his head, sliding his fingers through his shoulder length ebony tendrils, and let out an exasperated sigh; he felt like he was going to pull the hair from atop his head.

"That word is bad...BAD NARUTO, BAD!"

Little sniffles caught his attention as tears swelled in the corner of Naruto's eyes, and a frown graced those small pink lips. "Oh God..." Sasuke said when Naruto's sniffs grew louder, and his chest started to heave. "No...no no no no no, please don't-"

A full on wail erupted from Naruto's throat as he cried, and from the blaring sound, Sasuke was sure neighbors were going to hear. This couldn't be happening right now, and his nerves became frazzled as he tried to calm the crying child. Why were they frazzled? He didn't know where to begin. The twenty year old had been the baby of his family, his ENTIRE family, and it was everyone else that was always trying to pacify him.

He paced in front of the high chair as Naruto continued his blubbering, and Sasuke tried hard to come up with a solution. _What made him dance the way he was just a minute ago, _he asked, scratching his scalp as his pacing became frantic. Naruto was so loud and consistent with his crying, and it could drive even the calmest person to the brink of insanity; Sasuke was proof.

_What the hell was it?! _His mind was racing in a hundred different directions, and he couldn't focus on one single thought. He started to get irritated, with himself, with that kid, and the fact that it was only eight fifteen, and he was already having a shit morning!

"Ughhh," he groaned, "I'm supposed to be feeding the kid breakfast!"

The crying stopped, and it caught him guard, but when he looked to the high chair, Naruto was sitting there...happy...and dancing?

He was doing his little dance- the one that busted Sasuke in the face- and he giggled as he did it. "Beh-fest, beh-fest," he sung a little tune, and it clicked with Sasuke as a light switched on: Naruto loved breakfast. It must have been his favorite meal of the day, and whenever Sasuke said the term, he got happy and started to dance.

Sasuke looked at the little person jigging in his seat, and he felt a sudden warmth come into his body. His expression softened as he observed Naruto's little habit, and a smile was threatening to creep onto his lips. He shook his head and narrowed his eyes, turning towards the opened refrigerator to find Naruto's meal. Dammit, he wasn't going to give in that easily- he still hated kids.

**xxx**

Oatmeal was what Minato had prepared for Naruto before he left, and Sasuke cursed him for doing so.

There was oatmeal on the seat, oatmeal on the tray, in Naruto's hair, smeared around his face, and some had even dropped onto his orange striped footy pajamas. Sasuke stared at the grainy child currently sucking his breakfast off his fingers as, yeah, they were covered in oatmeal, too. He seemed so concentrated as he stuck four fingers in his mouth at a time, sucking harshly on them trying to consume every last bit of his meal. _You could have just used the spoon,_ Sasuke thought to himself, but he guessed maybe that was too much for a one year old...or maybe Naruto was just trying to be the kid from hell this morning.

Sasuke picked the bowl up from the high chair tray along with the unused spoon and went to place them in the sink. He grabbed the sippy cup full of milk for Naruto off the counter and went over to the child. Holding the cup out for Naruto to grab, he pulled it back noticing Naruto still had bits of clumped oatmeal on his fingers. He must have played in the remains when Sasuke walked away, but as Naruto began to wiggle his mealy fingers with soft whimpers leaving his mouth, Sasuke just gave him the cup.

He happily sucked down his milk, and Sasuke was quite amazed at how quickly he had drank it. He barely took any time to breathe before consuming more milk, and Sasuke concluded that was why the child was so chunky: he was plumped up from milk. Naruto finished his drink, and when he held it out for Sasuke to grab, the male grimaced taking the sticky cup from the little one's hands in all it's oatmeal glory.

"Beautiful," he stated sarcastically as he walked to throw the cup in the sink, turning the water on and rinsing the dirtied dishes. When he was done, he dried his hands with a cloth and looked back to Naruto in his high chair. He was swinging his legs back and forth with smile on his face; his lips glistened from the dried residue of the oatmeal under the kitchen light.

"Great, I have to clean him up," Sasuke said in a dreadful tone as he walked back to Naruto, pulled the tray out and proceeded to take the child from the chair. He held his arms straight as he picked him up to keep Naruto at a distance; he was not about to have oatmeal all over his brand new V-neck. (Sure V-necks didn't cost that much, but still, it was oatmeal, and it was better to avoid that mess all together.)

His mission failed with Naruto flailing around cheerfully, and Sasuke felt he was about to drop him. He pulled the child into his chest and let out a silent curse feeling the wet, cold oatmeal sticking to his skin through the cotton fibers of his shirt. There went his shirt any damn way, and Naruto giggled as Sasuke groaned and carried him to the fridge to look at the map.

"Bathroom, bathroom," he searched the map and found a bathroom close to Naruto's room. They walked through the bottom floor with the oatmeal pressing further into Sasuke's shirt from Naruto's pajamas, and with every shift of the child in his arms, it got worse. And it wasn't only his shirt that got attacked by oatmeal; Naruto placed his gummy hands into Sasuke's hair and started tugging at the locks he held.

"Shit!" Sasuke cursed when Naruto pulled too hard (gosh, this child had some peculiar strength) and he instantly slapped a hand over his mouth when he did.

"Shih! Shih! Shih!" Naruto repeatedly said the word still tugging Sasuke's hair when they got to the top of the steps, and Sasuke grit his teeth. _This is a pain in the ass, and it's only nine o clock. What the hell am I supposed to do until one?!_

They had reached the bathroom, and Sasuke flipped the light switch up, coating the room in a bright yellow light. There was a stack of towels and washcloths sitting on the sink counter, and he placed Naruto beside them. Naruto stood to his feet and turned towards the mirror; his eyes grew big as he examined his reflection. He gave himself a once over and when he looked into his own blue eyes, he grinned. He placed his tiny hands on the mirror- a little less coated in oatmeal since most of it was in Sasuke's hair- and started to bang on the glass.

"Hey!" Sasuke yelled to him as oatmeal smeared onto the mirror, and Naruto placed his mouth onto it to lick. After licking up the bit, he moved back, and all Sasuke saw was baby saliva streaming down the glass.

"Gross," he shuddered watching it streak down as Naruto pressed his mouth onto the mirror again- opened- and began humming against it. He looked down to his nose, making himself go cross eyes as his cheeks puffed out, and Sasuke caught himself chuckling from the sight. This barely three foot tall person was entertaining himself by blowing raspberries on a bathroom mirror? _Oh the joy of being young,_ he guessed.

"Alright twerp, time to get you cleaned," he leaned close to pick him up, but as Naruto blew really hard against the mirror, the air that seeped from the corner of his mouth pushed saliva and oatmeal backward, and they landed right on top of Sasuke's nose. He stood there, straight faced, with a little chunk of oatmeal running down the crevice of his nose. That light hearted feeling he got watching Naruto entertain himself vanished, and he was back to his old self. He REALLY...didn't want kids.

**xxx**

They were sitting on the couch. Sasuke on one side glaring at Naruto on the other as he watched a line up of shows on the network called Sprout. He was calm with a new cup of milk in his hand as he laid back into the couch with his chubby arm propped on the chair arm. Why was Sasuke intently staring at the child with those deep pools of onyx swirling with annoyance if he was quietly watching his shows?

They had a fight.

It was a struggle to get Naruto to lay still on the bathroom counter long enough for Sasuke to change him out of his dirty pajamas and wipe him off. Sasuke had unzipped his footy pajamas, and when he tried to pull Naruto's leg out out of them? He would stiffen his little limbs and hold them straight making it impossible for Sasuke to remove the soft cotton off him. Sasuke tried for ten minutes to get that child to loosen his body, and when he would? As soon as Sasuke tried to take a leg out, he tensed again.

The frustration Sasuke started to express from the battle he was having with a one year old must have been humorous; Naruto started giggling as Sasuke huffed and groaned, and cursed again, making Naruto repeat his favorite word for the day.

"Shih!"

"No!" he had yelled at Naruto as he continued to struggle getting one leg out- ONE leg- and when his attempts failed, he gave up. He had placed his hands on top of the counter and held his head down, letting out heavy pants as he was feeling quite taxed from his combat. He peered overhead at the one year old child holding his feet as he laid down, rocking from side to side. Those big blue eyes and that smile taunted Sasuke, and he felt as if Naruto had known what he was doing and was now mocking him.

In retaliation, he had stuck a finger to poke Naruto in the side, secretly hoping to make him cry (did he not learn from breakfast?) but to his surprise, the little tike jumped and gave a giggle. Sasuke repeatedly poked Naruto along his side and soon started to wriggle his fingers, and the one year old gave a genuine laugh. Not the soft giggles he head been hearing during the morning, but a loud, hearty laugh. He noticed that Naruto's body was lax, and although he was wiggly from the tickling, Sasuke stood up and, with his free hand, maneuvered those pajamas off Naruto's little body and threw them into the hamper nearby.

He had turned the water on, making it warm enough not to burn Naruto's delicate skin, and placed a clean washcloth under the faucet. He had stopped tickling Naruto, whose sides were a bright shade of red, and the child heavily puffed. Sasuke rung out the washcloth and ran it over Naruto's sticky body gently, and when he was finished, he threw the cloth in the hamper as well.

Naruto had started to shiver from the air conditioner being on, and Sasuke wrapped the towel he had been laying on around him, patting him dry and picking him up again. It had seemed like they were going to get through the rest of the morning smoothly...until it was time to clothe him again.

Naruto had ran up and down the halls of the top floor when Sasuke had laid him on the floor of his room for a change of his diaper. As soon as Sasuke had taken off the soiled bottom and got up to throw it in the diaper pail next to his crib, the one year old had got up and sneaked out of the room.

Turning around and seeing no other life in the room, Sasuke calmly panicked. "Naru- where are you?!" he had called to the child, but it was quiet. He held a fresh diaper in his hand, opened, as he looked on the top floor for the missing boy. He checked the guest room, Minato's room, the bathroom, and even the laundry room hoping he hadn't climbed into the dryer or worse- gotten into the laundry detergent.

"Where is this twerp at?" Sasuke asked his thought aloud, walking past the door of Naruto's room. From his peripheral, he saw a cloud of white particles floating into the air; when he had looked into the room, there was that emotionless expression again looking at a stark white Naruto squeezing a white bottle and licking the top. How in the hell did he miss him go back in there?!

Powder was everywhere. His body, his hair, his mouth, the carpet, and the change table that Sasuke realized: _maybe I should have used that to change him..._

Naruto gummed on the lid of the powder, coughing lightly when the particles got caught in his throat. Sasuke walked towards the naked child- the diaper still in his hand- and stood over him. As he looked down to him, Naruto looked upward, looking ashy, and held the powder bottle up for Sasuke. He took it into his hands- rather he snatched it- and shook it only to find out the entire thing had been emptied. He threw it off to the side examining the mess, and when he looked back to Naruto, his eyes narrowed.

Those sea blues only blinked with Naruto putting his hands on his feet, and he rocked. A smile was presented on his face, and the next word that had left the child's lips made Sasuke want to throw that diaper onto the ground and make his grand exit leaving the child in all his powdery white heap, "Shih."

That's why Sasuke glared at Naruto on the couch. This was just reassurance that, yes...NO, he didn't want to have kids. And he didn't care that Naruto was sitting on the other end of the couch with blue and green shark pajama shorts and a yellow and brown monkey pajama top with his diaper on backwards, slightly ashy as the powder rubbed into the couch.

That was his own damn fault, and Sasuke felt no remorse that the child looked like he was the son of circus clowns.

It was a good thing the tike liked this Sprout channel, because it had given Sasuke the hour he needed to clean the mess from breakfast and the powder tornado that cluttered Naruto's room. While Naruto's full attention was on the fuzzy creatures that had been counting, singing, and teaching him normal things a show targeted towards younger children should...Sasuke had also done a thorough check of upstairs to see if Naruto had ruined anything else while he was in pursuit of him; thankfully, he had not.

Sasuke turned his gaze away from Naruto and stared out the window as he propped his elbow on the couch. His mind began to wonder about a few pictures he had seen in Naruto's nursery. It was assumed to be the day of his birth; it was of a long, red haired woman with fair skin and the biggest smile on her face holding a bundle and Minato hugging her from behind. The woman appeared to be in a hospital bed with tubes in her nose and an IV in her arm, and even though she looked rather frail and sickly, the joy she exuded brought an undeniable beauty to her face.

As Sasuke had been checking for any of Naruto's mishaps, the male had come across a picture of the same woman on Minato's nightstand. She had been in a wheelchair with those same tubes in her nose, but still had an exuberant smile. Being nosy, he had tread through the room observing the other pictures that had been taken- what seemed like- prior to Naruto's birth. There had been a black frame along the wall documenting each month of the woman's pregnancy, and in all of them, she had been in a wheelchair.

When Sasuke had returned to Naruto's room to make sure he had cleaned everything, there was an identical frame on the wall above Naruto's crib documenting each month of his first year. But unlike the other, there had been no red haired woman with the beautiful smile, and Sasuke could only conclude she had passed. The picture on top of the bookshelf was the same as the one on Minato's bedside, and a vase with a red rose had been sitting next to it; it had confirmed his suspicion.

A little body broke him from his thoughts as he settled into his lap and snuggled into his stomach, nuzzling him in the process. Naruto had curled himself into a loose ball, holding the emptied of cup of milk in his hand. He let out a soft yawn, and the way his features stretched in the mix, Sasuke couldn't help but chortle. Naruto's eyes fluttered shut as he began to drift off to sleep, and Sasuke smirked at the child below him.

He moved his hand to trace his fingers on Naruto's features, and the little one flinched from the gentle brush. This kid had given him the morning from what seemed like hell, but as he reflected back, it hadn't been so bad. At least he was a good little kid who didn't stick stuff in electrical sockets, put things he shouldn't in his mouth, or throw tantrums (and if he did, Sasuke would rather not know; let him keep the win lose experiences he had had this morning).

Naruto had begin to snore, although lightly, and the soft rise and fall of his chest as he breathed brought that warm feeling back into Sasuke's body. He found himself being captivated by this little kid who napped in his lap with the golden hair, cerulean blue eyes, and the smooth skin that felt like the fuzzy skin of a peach. Sasuke had been around children before, but the way they showed themselves was the reason he didn't want to have kids. But Naruto? Naruto had shown him something different; he was quirky and entertaining just like his dad, cute, and...dare he say it...enjoyable to be around.

Minato had put on the schedule to put Naruto down in crib for his morning nap, but Sasuke let him stay in his lap. Hell, the rest of the morning hadn't gone like the schedule- why start now?

**xxx**

Two and a half hours had passed; it was twelve thirty, and Sasuke had been watching a movie as Naruto continued to slumber. He would twist and turn to get in a comfortable position, and Sasuke would adjust himself so he could do so easily.

He had long forgotten the schedule and didn't remember this was around the time Naruto would be waking up. A stretch of the little body in his lap along with a fist to the crotch snapped him out of his musing of the movie, and his eyes bucked open as his breath hitched.

"Nnnn," he groaned in pain from that "super baby"- that's what he was calling it- strength Naruto punched to his groin; his body leaned forward slightly, and his head was down as he sucked in air through grit teeth. Naruto sat up and yawned rubbing his eyes of sleep, and when he looked at Sasuke's pained expression, a questioning look brewed in his blue eyes. He brought his face closer to Sasuke's and examined him curiously, searching each side of his sitter's face.

Sasuke titled his head upward, and when onyx met blue, he narrowed his at the kid. "You're just waking up, and you're causing me pain," Sasuke spoke near a whisper, and when Naruto smiled at him saying that infamous word, he hung his head again.

"Shih!"

He started to protest, but gave up instead. "Yeah..." he snickered, sighing when the uncomfortable feeling dulled a bit, "that about sums it up."

Naruto bounced in his lap doing that adorable dance that Sasuke had hated that morning, and it brought a smile to his face. He found himself as he sat up, this time, copying Naruto in the jovial punches to the air while moving his head side to side (although he was less spirited). Naruto had lost his balance and when he slipped off Sasuke's lap, the older male had pushed forward to catch him.

He caught his head in his palms, cradling him before he hit the corner of the coffee table, and let out a relieving sigh. "Glad I caught you, little buddy," and from the silent clap and big grin Naruto gave him, Sasuke returned a heartwarming smile. He pulled Naruto to his chest and stood up, propping the child on his hip and walked into the kitchen. "I think it's lunch time. Do you have anything special you do for that word?"

Naruto stared at Sasuke with those blue eyes and the blank look made Sasuke stop walking; he looked back to the one year old in his arms concerned, but when he felt those chubby hands on either side of his face, he raised a brow. Suddenly Naruto leaned forward and placed his mouth over his nose in, what Sasuke thought, was a sloppy, wet kiss. He looked to his nose making him go cross eyed the same way Naruto had earlier as the little tike kissed him, and when he moved back, Naruto closed his eyes and smiled.

Although Sasuke's nostrils had baby slob running along the edge down his lip, he couldn't help but give another lighthearted smile. "You know...I think you've grown on me kid," Sasuke said to Naruto, and the little boy placed his arms on either side of his shoulders and laid his head atop the broad joint.

"I guess this is a hug?" he asked, and Naruto nodded his head, nuzzling his nose into Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke moved an arm behind Naruto's back, giving the child a light squeeze. Sasuke had never liked children, had always run from them, and hoped to God his parents wouldn't have another after him, but this one? He was kind of special.

**xxx**

The door to the garage opened, and a tired Minato stepped into his home, heavily sighing. He threw his keys to the counter, pulled off his jacket, and leaned onto the marble, placing his head into his palms and rubbing his face.

"Work must have been rough, Professor," Sasuke said off to the side as he was feeding Naruto ravioli. He wasn't about to have another episode like this morning; the sauce was too messy, it stained, and even though he got over having dried up oatmeal on his v-neck? Spaghetti sauce was not going to cut it.

"Dah-dee; dah-dee!" Naruto chanted, doing his little dance with his mouth full of cut ravioli.

"Heyyy squirt," Minato cheered up and walked to the high chair to ruffle his son's fluffy locks. "Did you give Sas...uke a hard ti...me," the professor hesitated to finish his sentence noticing Sasuke's shirt and hair decorated with dried oats.

"Sah-seh; sah-seh!" Naruto began to say his sitter's name after his dad still doing his dance.

Minato weakly grinned, placing his hand on his neck to rub circles into it. "I guess I shouldn't have made him oatmeal this morning, huh?"

"Hn, I've gotten pretty used to it," Sasuke dismissed him, spooning another bite of ravioli to Naruto who held his mouth opened wide. "This ravioli on the other hand? I wasn't taking a chance."

Minato laughed, placing a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and gave it a light shake. "I can't thank you enough for watching him off such short notice."

"Don't mention," he paused, tightening his hold around the spoon he held between his fingers. "Hey, professor?"

"Yeah?" Bright blue eyes looked at him in question taking in the rather sullen look on his student's face, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just want to...," Sasuke hesitated, "thank you, I guess, for being such a good dad, and not just a good dad...but a single one as well." Minato's eyes widened, and his mouth parted slightly. "I noticed the pictures in your and Naruto's room, and I have to say your wife was beautiful. Your son is beautiful as well; I can tell he has her spirit in him as well as yours, and I felt to let you know as a single dad, you're doing a great job," Sasuke looked up to his shocked professor with a smile on his face, "and if at anytime you need someone to watch him, I'm only a call away."

Hearing Sasuke's kind words about Kushina brought a tear to Minato's eye; as it helplessly fell down his cheek, he bowed his head. It had been rough losing her to an illness after Naruto's birth. Her doctor's had advised her against carrying a child as her body was too weak, but she refused to listen. As most women, she wanted that pride of carrying a life and bringing someone into the world. She felt it was her duty- to herself and to her husband- and as she held her child for the only time she would ever get the chance to, she reveled in every last second.

_Take care of our boy...I love you, Minato. And I love you, Naruto,_ were her last words before her passing, and Minato strove every day to fulfill that last request of his wife.

Sasuke noticed a few more tears had fallen down his professor's face, and he moved a hand to his arm to console him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"No," he sniffled and looked at his student with his eyes closed and the signature smile he, his wife, and his son shared, "I'm just...happy, is all, to know that I'm doing my job right. And from my favorite student who did this for me as a last minute thing? How lucky am I?!"

"Like I said: don't mention it. I had a pretty good time with the kid; he's quite entertaining."

Minato chortled. "Heh, I guess he is, huh?"

As they both looked to the child with the ravioli sauce staining his face, wearing that big goofy grin, they both smiled at him. Yeah, Naruto was a joy, for Kushina, for Minato, and now for Sasuke until that ONE little problem they had been having all day happened yet again...

"Shih!"

Sasuke stilled and his eyes widened while Minato's brow rose and his lips slanted. He lowered his head til he was eye level with his son who stared at him with the same vibrant, blue irises.

"What did you just say?"

_Maybe Sasuke shouldn't have taken this job in the first place..._

/End.

**A/N: This was so fun to write; I'm thinking of writing a sequel of Sasuke x little!Naruto adventures, but I'm not sure. I hope you all enjoyed it, and I would love to know what you think. Until next time...**


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